Ia Antigens

Abstract

Ia alloantigens are surface glycoproteins found on lymphocytes and macrophages and probably some other cell types (Shreffler and David, 1975; Hammerling et al., 1975; Cowing et al., 1978). They are antigenically quite variable, and their structure is encoded in genes mapping in the I (immune-response) region of the murine major histocompatibility complex (MHC). They are detected with the aid of alloantisera, and each molecule is antigenically complex, bearing several different antigenic determinants (Cullen et al., 1976). There are two groups of Ia molecules that are readily detected on homozygous lymphocytes, and these are currently called I-A and I-E molecules (Cullen et al., 1974, 1979; B.D. Schwartz and Cullen, 1978; Cook et al., 1978). These names are derived from the genetic subregion of origin of these molecules, but as will be seen in Section 4, it is not strictly true that the I-E molecule is derived only from the I-E subregion.

References

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